Backdoor Visit
by fxrefliess
Summary: The city is in ruins and Lloyd feels helpless without his powers. Nya tries...she tries /so/ much to heal him but the secrets he reveals are just too much. And so she visits a friend to share the pain with. (starts end of s. 8 - ends at beginning of s. 9) - photo belongs to paperbooart on tumblr
1. reassurance

**—the day after the last ep of season 8—**

The Green Ninja grunted. He flipped backwards, wiping his sweaty forehead on the back of his gloved hand. His head looked down towards the bitter floor and his feet were placed apart, set in a ready position. But he was breathing heavy. He was tired; he was beginning to lose all hope.

His shoulders started to drop ever so slightly. A normal person would not be able to notice it - however, the person he was sparing with was more than normal: she was a well-trained ninja of water.

"Nya, I-" Lloyd started, only to cut himself off as he dodged an attack.

The said water ninja jumped forward after Lloyd. "The enemy will not hesitate-" she paused to inhale a breath and try to add in another hit, "-to attack while you are at your lowest. In fact,-" This time, Nya slide one leg towards Lloyd's shins, causing him to fall. "-you're father will probably attack more when you're distracted."

Lloyd huffed from the ground, dealing with the slight rebound of his head against the hard ground. He didn't understand how she was still going when everything was at a lost; the city was being destroyed by the second and the only people able to fix it were hiding and waiting for something to return that never will. The Green Ninja propped himself up on his elbows, closing his eyes for a second to let the small headache drift away. He took the hand Nya offered and stood up.

"What's wrong?"

Lloyd snorted a forced laugh, scoffing. "What's wrong?" he repeated, trying to avoid the inevitable of answering the truth. "Nothing."

"C'mon, Lloyd," Nya started, plopping a hand on her hip, "I can see it in you're eyes: they're dull. You're hiding something."

"Nothing's wrong; I'm fine."

Nya sighed. "If you say so. We just gotta keep on hiding until the others find us 'cause we can't do this on our own." She paused and took a few steps away, then turned back around. "They are going to find us, right?"

Everything in Lloyd's body begged for him to tell her the truth, but going against his better judgement, Lloyd nodded. He wasn't sure if the reassurance was actually for Nya, or more for himself.

"Yes, they will find us."

* * *

 **a/n: if u came here from my other story "behind closed doors" you probably have a little bit of an idea of what this is. the chapters are gonna be smaller - like this - and get to the point until about ch. 6, were the main reason I wrote this comes into play. I just think that a lot of time was skipped between the last ep. of season 8 and the start of season 9 so...im writing some of it :D**

 **I think this is angsty? at least some of it. spoilers for season 8-9, btw, and in this: nya doesn't know what happened to the others yet, in case u couldn't tell already.**

 **...so enjoy! I would love to hear ur thoughts/ideas!**


	2. cold food

**—the next day—**

It was freezing.

The coldness reminded Lloyd of Zane. Oh how he missed the others.

Nya denied training for the day due to the temperature of wherever they were hiding - although Lloyd had other ideas about why they weren't training, since the whole building has always been cold.. The building or factory-thing was in fact cold and that's why Misako believed it was the perfect hiding spot - no one would think to look in such unfavorable living conditions. So instead of practicing for bringing back the city, Lloyd was sitting in the corner of the building, a blanket wrapped around his green shoulders.

Every once in a while, awful screams could be heard from outside - like _right_ outside. They made everyone shudder. It was worse, however, when a bang echoed outside as if a building fell. To be honest, he wasn't even sure he wanted to go outside anymore. Lloyd worried one of these days a civilian would slip into the building and rat them out. So far, they were lucky.

He could not help but keep glancing over at Nya. The said water ninja was currently deep into conversation with PIXAL. Nya, too, was freezing. And hungry. But most of all she was in anticipation of when the door would finally open and five familiar faces would walk through. She wanted her family back.

After a while, no more current topics were interesting with the female nindriod, Nya excused herself and began walking over to Lloyd. She sat down, her back leaning against the icy wall.

"So..."

"So," Lloyd repeated.

"How you feeling?"

"Other than freezing, I'm pretty good."

Nya placed her hands on top of her stomach. "I'm starving."

The five knock signal to get inside echoed throughout the building. Nya's head perched up immediately, thoughts racing at the idea that it could be _them._ Misako - the closest to the door - waited a moment longer before opening it. Of course it was only Dareth, like it is everyday. The others don't even know of the secret knock, let alone where to look.

The brown ninja had a plastic bag in his hand.

That was their meal for the day. Leftovers. FSM only knows where Dareth gathered them from.


	3. awake

**—later that day, during the night—**

Nya was awake.

She kept her breath hallow and quiet so she wouldn't wake anyone up. Although the only person she knew was definitely asleep was the infamous brown ninja - his snores could be heard from across the block.

Nya flipped on her side, then her stomach, and afterwards her back. The thin sleeping bag she was laying on was doing no good. Nya was uncomfortable and cold; her thoughts kept drifting to the ninja and if they, too, were scrounging for food in the broken, battered Ninjago City - or what was left of it.

Unbelievably, she eventually fell asleep with rare happy thoughts of the ninja.

On the other hand however, Lloyd was eating himself alive.

He called himself a liar and kept talking internally. His lips silently spoke until they became tired.

"You're fueling the fire.

"Just tell her.

"C'mon, Lloyd, she can take it.

"They're gone and pretending they aren't will only make matters worse.

"You're the green ninja, for Sulkin's Sake.

"Stop denying it because you'll never be able to beat your father with a clouded mind."

Man, now he sounded like Wu.


	4. stupid

**—the next day—**

Lloyd was in the process of a verbal and emotional training with his mother. Mostly, thought, it was just an in-depth conversation with an excuse to talk to each other. Things along the lines of "that monster is not your father" and "no matter what he says you need to be stronger" were heard from across the room where Nya was tinkering with the new Samurai X mech from PIXAL. The water ninja walked around the upgraded mech, circling the machinery.

"Well, Pix, I gotta give it to you: you did a great job controlling this thing."

PIXAL nodded. "Thank you, Nya. It means a lot coming from the original Samurai X."

"Aw, don't mention it," Nya replied, a lopsided smile on her face. She remembered when she was so overprotective with her secret alter-ego, but now she's moved on and feels proud that PIXAL has taken over.

"But it's a genius idea to connect the mech to the _Bounty,_ " Nya complements. _"_ It really helps with staying in touch. Can't believe I didn't think of it beforehand."

"You get a lot of spare time while trapped in someone's head."

Guessing it was joke even thought PIXAL's voice was just as monotone as ever, Nya laughed - something that she hasn't done in a while considering the circumstances. She shot a quick glance at the green ninja, making sure he was not paying attention before she continued. "How do you feel...without Zane?"

"Like I have lost my second half."

"Do you think they are going to find us?"

PIXAL hesitated for a moment which made Nya nervous. "I have not seen any information that they have been caught, so yes. I do. How are you doing yourself?"

Nya smirked, then her expression fell. "It's not me I'm worried about; don't you think they will do something stupid?"

"The logical explanation is yes, but at a stressful time like now I believe they will stay level-headed."

"I hope so."


	5. get up

**—hours later—**

Sparks flew as the arm of the Samerai X mech scraped against the concrete floor. Lloyd was wornout - each attempt to knock him down became closer than the last. PIXAL did another swing, just clipping the green gi hanging around the all legendary ninja.

As usual, Nya was standing off to the side, a look on her face that said endless expressions. She caught him staring - so did PIXAL - and the nindriod landed a hit. Lloyd grunted as his body was tossed into the wall, a lot softer than he has and will ever feel during a fight. It was like a love tap. Because everyone here knows he isn't prepared enough to have PIXAL actually put strength into her swings, let alone his father.

It also pushed him over the edge.

He gripped his knees and pulled them to his chest. He sat. He watched PIXAL freeze, not expecting the greatest ninja to just give up. He watched Nya whisper to his mother that she didn't think he would ever "fully recover". He watched his mother _agree_.

The water ninja stepped forward and looked down. "Get up," she demanded...with what sounded like tears being held back.

Lloyd wanted to; he wanted to be the all mighty ninja he was previously. But things changed - he had no powers. He was nothing compared to Harumi and his father. He was nothing without the rest of his team. And they were _dead_.

"Get up, Lloyd," Nya repeated.

She spoke like it wasn't an option; Lloyd _had_ to stand up. He had to try again because Nya could not lose hope too. She was still holding on by a thin rope. And she would not let herself let go and fall, no matter how much her hands slipped. She needed to have faith.

But Lloyd's response shocked her.

"Why?"

Nya paused, hesitating. "Because the city depends on it - because I depend on it."

"There's nothing worth fighting for anymore, Nya," Lloyd snapped. "There's no way were going to win this by ourselves."

"We're strengthening ourselves while waiting for the others to find us."

"Yeah, well that might be a while."

"Then maybe I'll just go find them myself."

"You don't get it, Nya, they're not coming back."

"They're-"

"-they're dead."

Nya didn't fully have time process what had happened. It was PIXAL in the background who inhaled sharply that brought her back to life.

"Dead: perish, no longer in existence," PIXAL started. Even for a nindriod, the amount of sadness in her voice, mixed with confusion did not make a happy solution. "The ninja...are gone."

The master of water remained silent for a moment too long; she knew standing over Lloyd without speaking made him uncomfortable. But yet he did not move. He staying curled up in a ball - in fact, he had dug in head into his knees in shame.

Nya scoffed, debating whether or not to kick the man in the green gi as he cowered. "How do you know?" she murmured, choosing to save Lloyd from her kicks.

"They were on the _Bounty_ and the Colossus, Nya, it..it came from no-where and just...squashed them."

"W-why would you keep that from us, Lloyd?" Nya tried to keep her face hard and not make it look like all hope was lost. She could not cry. "Why give us false hope?"

The response was quiet: "I didn't want to hurt you."

She looked up and noticed a small spider-web in the corner. How peaceful it must be, all alone and okay with not having worrying about life's problems. "So you thought it was a better idea to lie?" Nya asked. "To...to make us believe it was okay while you _moped_."

"I lost my friends!"

"I lost my _family_ ," Nya spat. "Again."

An awful image of Kai flooked her mind. Jay followed shortly after, with Cole and Zane right behind. And poor, little Master Wu. Nya wanted to deny it - she wanted to believe Lloyd was lying. But the look on his face told her otherwise.

So she had to deal with this sorrow somehow. And there was no way being trapped in a freezing building with Lloyd would help her and her boiling anger. In order to let her feelings loose, she muttered one last imoressioning sentence before grabbing her gray hoodie and walking right out the door.

"Some reisistence leader you are."


	6. mistake

**—seconds later—**

It was a mistake. Everything was a mistake.

Lloyd, without second thought, jumped up and ran after Nya but paused at the door. His hand hovered over the handle. He didn't really want to just exit the safe house and let his identity known to everyone. Then Harumi and her Sons of Garmadon spies hidden everywhere would instantly find him and there really would be zero chance at saving the city. He regretted it once more, but Lloyd stayed back.

His head sadly dipped in frustration.

His mother's hand was inches to laying on his shoulder when he flinched, stumbling away. "Don't," he whispered. "Just leave me alone."

He trailed slowly to the back of the building where it was the coldest and just sat. Nya's angry words played on a repeat in his mind.

 _What have I done?_


	7. wing it

**-meanwhile-**

" _Awh_ , I wanted to protect you."

Nya's footsteps were light. She traveled the city quick and somewhat quietly, not really having a destination in mind. Not that there was many places to go with her reputation and the fact that half the city crumbled to a resurrected overlord of destruction.

All in all though, she needed a break; Nya had to get away from Lloyd and process the awful information.

 _Dead._

Her brother was dead. Her boyfriend was dead. Friends all so close she called them family.

 _Dead._

Nya's heart could not take the pain of mourning for so long, but stitch itself together when the loved ones appeared in her life again. Of course, she was happy her parents were not dead all those long years with Kai raising her. Although she has been thought to believe a lie for so long, and Nya isn't so sure she wants a replay. Her childhood was never that exciting.

" _Awh_ , I lost my friends."

A few times while scaling buildings, Nya was almost spotted by wondering SOG guards. They were littered everywhere. The water ninja was slightly tempted to sneak attack Harumi at the top off the Borg Industry tower when a much safer, much better idea entered her head.

Nya spotted the bright advertising lights from about a mile away and put herself on course for the noodle shop.

"Lied to," Nya muttered to herself, thoughts extremely clouded. "Least that explains why he did not want to train at all."

She came to a main road intersection - thus including a large gap between buildings. She remembered seeing Kai attempt to cross this road by build tops on pure confidence before and end up falling. Maybe he wasn't running fast enough? The option of dropping to the ground was slim because there were so many Sons of Garmadon patrolling the streets; Nya thought she could just wing it.

 _Wing it._

No, she couldn't use her dragon either - too much attention. Same with airjituz.

Nya looked down at the ground. It was only about two stories up, yet no easy way of crawling to the ground to get through. So she deeply inhaled, gathered a running start, and jumped.


	8. my fault

"She still hasn't returned yet."

"Do you think she was caught?"

Pause, then a response. "No; UV would have said something on tv by now."

"What if they want us to think she wasn't caught yet, so they're not saying anything?"

"It's only been a few hours, Dareth, and I think Nya's smarter than to turn herself in."

"But, Misako-"

"Sh," she cut the brown ninja off. "Do you hear that? I think...Lloyd?"

Lloyd was listening to the conversation - of course he was. He knew that if he wasn't standing a few feet away from them, hidden in a dark corner, they would be talking about their precious green ninja, too.

"Lloyd, please come out now so we can discuss this."

Lloyd did not want to come out. He did not want to talk about the problem at hand, either. If anything, he wanted to be back at Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys and not have a single worry in the world. He didn't want his friends to be dead and his father to have grown into what he is now.

When Lloyd did not respond, his mother's worn out face cut through the darkness. She really was not going to give up on him.

"You know it is better to talk about your problems than bubble them inside."

"Maybe I wanna bubble them inside."

Misako titled her head to the side. "What would your uncle say to this?" she asked.

"Nothing," was Lloyd's bitter reply. "Because he's gone and my father is gone too. And so are the ninja, and now Nya isn't coming back either." He paused and took in his mother's sympathetic expression. "And it's all my fault, isn't it?"

"Lloyd, this is not-"

"If I would have seen through Rumi's lies and not been so dumbfounded around her, then I could have stopped this before it started."

"We were all deceived at the beginning, but now we know more and can grow stronger."

"Are we really stronger when there is only me?" Lloyd questioned. " _Without_ my powers."

"I am sure somehow they will return, as will Nya. She just needs a break. I think we all do."

Lloyd shut his tired eyes with a sigh. "I just hope we're still around when this break is over."


	9. snapped

"Bad idea. Bad idea."

The ground came a lot faster than Nya had expected it to.

She missed the building across the street - but by less than Kai had - and fell to the ground quickly. She knew it was a _bad idea_ , but rather than breaking a leg - or worse - Nya used water to slow her fall.

However, that option was not quiet at all. Now there were streams of H2O running down the street and it was extremely eye catching. Especially when someone with water powers in a ninja gi was considered a fugitive.

But, after all, she was a ninja. And these patrol guards were just street clean ups with white paint on their faces.

Nya tossed herself into the back alley of her destination. The light pitter padder of footprints were feet away from her. Hushed voices muttered sentences along the lines of "where'd she go?" and "don't tell Harumi that we lost 'em."

When she peaked her head around the brick corner, the path was clear. The thugs left just as quick as they arrived. As Nya turned around to make her way back, she came face to face with a large frying pan.

Instinctively, hands covered her face to stop impact. Nothing hit; she moved into a ready stance.

Words jumbled on the water ninja's lips for a second before the blob of orange holding up the pan caught her eye. "FSM, it's just me," she whispered, lowering her fists all the way. Nya gulped in a sigh.

" _Nya_? Aren't you like... _wanted_?"

"Yeah, you could say so," the master of water answered. "I just need someone to talk to. I don't know where else to go."

"Not many more places to go, hm?" Skylor smiled, her hand against her hip.

"Lloyd...we aren't doing so well."

Skylor brought the frying pan to her side as well, as if she was deep in thought. "The resistance and it's leader aren't doing so well?" she asked. "The whole city is depending on you guys."

"I know, Skylor, and he just can't do it. We're broken."

Skylor turned to her side and motioned to the backdoor. "Wanna go inside?" she asked. "It's much safer than out here."

Nya said nothing as she accepted the offer and hurried inside the noodle shop. Her head swirled to the sides as if someone was going to jump out. "Thanks," she murmured, slipping into the closest booth.

Dim lights flowed through the kitchen double doors. The red and orange booths were clean and shinny. A few tables littered around the store had napkins and silverware scattered on them, indicating that they were not yet cleaned all the way. The conveyer belt which usually was non-stop delivering food around the shop was shut off and motionless.

Skylor sat across from her, pushing away strands of her red hair from her face. "No problem. So, uh, I just closed for the night; no one will be breaking in and no one will even know you were here."

"How is this restaurant even open still? Half the city is in ruin."

"Survived a army of snakes," Skylor shrugged, "I can survive four arms of crazy"

"Ah," Nya breathed. She wanted to laugh, but didn't have the willpower to do so. There was a bitter silence that hung in the air before Nya continued. "The ninja are dead." She watched the master of amber pull a hand to cover her ajar mouth. "Lloyd saw them get crushed by the Colossal when on the _Bounty,_ " finished Nya. She herself was now sniffling away tears.

Every time she said or thought it, the deaths felt heavier. They hung in the air like an unwanted mood. But unlike other people, she could not keep this as a secret. Skylor deserved to know.

"Oh my gosh," was the only response Skylor gave.

"And Lloyd lost all hope; he doesn't think he's strong enough," said the water ninja. "To be honest, Skylor, I am not that far behind."

The redhead put on a mask, and lightened up. "Let me help-"

"No."

"Why not?"

Nya placed her palms against the wooden table. "If anyone finds out your helping us, it will only be a matter of hours before your caught," she said. "No use putting more people in danger."

"Good god, Nya, take a look around! UV is slowly arresting everyone with the citizen's help!" Skylor added. "It won't be long until they figure it out that the suspicious noodle shop owner has backgrounds with the ninja, too."

"You're right."

"Please, just...I'll stay as hidden as ever, okay?" said Skylor. "And I'll only really butt in if your life depends on it."

"Okay. Okay, fine," answered Nya, leaning back in the booth. She had no choice. What other options were left? "I'm not gonna tell you where we are hiding, though, for safety reasons."

"That's okay."

"I already lost so much, y'know? And the ninja meant a lot, I just don't think I can lose much more."

"I understand, Nya."

That was when it hit her. Skylor really did understand. Her father basically used her as a pawn, treated her awfully. They've both lost so much in such little time. Nya drummed her fingers against the table, looking down at her gloved hands. "I should...uh, probably head back before a secret search party breaks out," she whispered.

"Okay," Skylor murmured in response. Her face was still almost emotionless. She was strong.

Both the elemental masters arose from the booth and paused for an awkward moment. Then Nya did not hesitate to wrap her arms around the redhead and dig her face into Skylor's shoulder.

"Thank you," Nya muttered. "So much."

She hugged just a flinch tighter, than left the noodle shop through the back door, and jumped on the roof before a response was heard.

Nya's hair tugged in the light breeze before she flipped up her mask. Her face, her emotions, everything was hidden once more after boiling over. It was as if she was starting new. She would head back to the freezing cold building, and train Lloyd like no tomorrow. Nya would not lose any more hope. Only because that would mean the ninja had died for nothing, and she's would not let that slide.

Nya knew she had to be strong.

She thought Skylor had taken the news much better.

At lesst, that was what she thought before she heard the loud bang and muffled tears.

Nya was perched on top of the noodle shop when the noise echoed out. Her immediate thought was to burst back inside, but then instinct flicked on: Nya hopped to the window and peaked through. What she saw felt like an invasion of privacy.

Skylor was sitting in the same booth as earlier, her knees pulled her to chest. Strands of red hair flicked in random, messy directions from the usual ponytail. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, a flustered and teary eyed head leaning against them.

Just like the water ninja, Skylor had snapped, but held together strong for her friend.

Nya figured it was time to make a change.

 **a/n: sorry this was a little late (I wanted to make it longer than usual). Also, updates might not be every other day - it might be like ever other two days. I have something else I needa finish and, plus, yknow school.**


	10. call me

**-skylor's pov-**

Everyday, Chen's Noodle Shop gets less and less customers.

Every week, each person has less money and a dirtier face.

I'm worried. And not just about the city; about the ninja.

I gotta admit, years ago, I heard about Garmadon and his awful ways - since, y'know, him and my father... _yeah_. Anyways, after that, when he was stripped of evil and turned good, I was actually surprised to see him come to the island. He looked so innocent, yet powerful; strong and caring.

And then there is what he is now.

The lord of destruction with power coursing through his veins like he needs it to survive or something. And I heard he reached his "true potential" a lot quicker than any of the ninja had, which makes me worry. Now he has like a cult of people worshiping him with none other than the one and only princess of Ninjago as his second-in-command. If that poor girl did not bring this huge issue of the city falling apart on all of us - including herself - I'd feel sorry for her.

Then there is the problem that I almost slapped Nya in the face with a greasy frying pan last night. Who woulda thought that she would be so quiet as to sneak into my restaurant's back alley with guards following her - as a _ninja_ , you know? A ninja that is highly wanted by literally everyone except like three people.

But that does not matter. What matters is what she told me. What she told me _broke_ my heart.

I tried to stay strong for her because I could see the crystal tears being held in her shallow eyes. I could feel the sadness in her voice; she wanted to break down. And yet, if I snapped while she came to me for help, it would be a crying wreck of...of two teenage girls mourning over the only people that they care about in their life that just died.

Wow, imagine that.

So as soon as we came to an agreement and the hug broke apart, she left. And I cried.

Actually, I did a little more than cry.

I dropped something - not really sure what, but it made a bang. I had my hands running through my hair and it completely messed up my ponytail. When I tossed myself back into the booth, I just couldn't help but curl into a ball and let it loose.

I cried because if Lloyd really is losing all of his hope, how did we stand a chance? I cried because I just lost the people that mattered the most to me. But eventually, my face dried and anger boiled inside of me. For a second I wanted cold, hard revenge.

It's a cruel world out there.

Then an idea hit me.

I walked over to the windows first, shutting the leftover blinds all the way. After I finished that, I hurried to clean up the rest of the tables. I washed some remaining dishes. I finished closing the shop completely for the night.

When I felt like collapsing right then and there, I picked up my phone and dialed some numbers I honestly never wanted to have to call in such awful situations again.

Time to fight back.


	11. disappointed

It's been a few hours. Worry started to seep through Lloyd's fragile coverup. His legs bounced in an eery anticipation.

Nya was still gone. She probably did not plan on returning because the news was too much and the hope burning inside of her had finally died out all the way. Although now she was most likely caught and tried by any means, for answers. LLoyd hoped Nya was stronger that he was.

PIXAL announced that it was time to get some sleep, even to everyone's dismay. Lloyd did not know what time it was so he obliged to the nindriod's words and began to get as comfortable as possible.

He hadn't seen the outside in a long time. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or bad thing.

Lloyd shuffled under his thin sleeping bag. In no way possible was it comfortable to him. He wondered how Dareth fell asleep so easily every night. Probably because he didn't have so much weighing down his shoulders.

The green ninja laid in the silence. He wanted it to take him away to a sweeter place, but the quiet footsteps outside brought him back to a sudden reality.

At first, he just though the noise was his imagination, but as it slowly got louder as it approached there was no mistake. Someone was coming. Whether good or bad, they wanted their presence to be well-known.

"Mom?" Lloyd whispered. "Guys, get up; someone's coming."

The others stirred in their sleep, but Lloyd was wide awake and already moving towards the metal door.

He positioned himself so that his stomach was closer to the door and his left hand was inches above the handle. The moment someone decided to break in, he would slam it shut again.

Lloyd steadied his breath as the footsteps came to a hault right outside the door. Suspense made time seem to pass unbearably long.

He shut his eyes and focused on the noises.

He listened to the secret knock to enter the building and paused for a moment.

Was it Nya? Or was it a Son of Garmadon who prided the information out of her?

Everything was frozen until PIXAL encouraged Lloyd to open the door. He slowly obeyed and through the small slit, he saw a gray hoodie atop a ruffled ninja gi. Nya's hands were stuffed in her pockets, head swiveling around to make sure the coast was clear before entering the freezing building.

Lloyd did not know whether to be extatic in the water ninja's return or disappointed at the glare that was still present him her eyes.

 **a/n: this is late only 'cause fan was down a whole day for me so I'm a little behind. Btw, the story is most likely gonna be wrapped up in a few more chapters...four at most, I think. Otherwise, everything should be goin' good? Hope you guys are enjoying.**


	12. rules with hope

Rule number one: No more scaling buildings only to end up jumping off them.

Nya walked back.

She had her hoodie flipped up, covering her black ponytail. The usual gray ninja gi was not as obnoxious as a a bright blue one, so her legs showing through was not much of a problem. Although every street had people on it: whether they were running for food, a SOG member, or huddled together by a fire. It was heartbreaking. And there was a scary suspense lingering in the air as to when someone would make the next move to either end this poverty, or make it worse.

Once, from curiosity, Nya let her eyes float up to the Borg Tower were Harumi and Lord Garmadon were stationed at the top of. It loomed over the city, creating a shadow over most of the land. The look of it made her sick.

There were still a few more blocks to go, so her thoughts swam back to Skylor. At least, that was until something bumped into her leg. Immediately, she looked down and felt the need to run out from fear of being recognized and ratted out. But the small child could not have been more than eight. His cheeks were still plump of baby fat and there were holes in the old shoes around his feet. Dirty blond hair was sticking out in each direction on his head.

"Hello," Nya said softly when the boy continued to stare up in awe. The thought of acting natural so she would not be weeded out was the only thing she was going for now. No more running.

"Hi," squeaked the child. His eyes lingered to Nya's pants - the patterns so easy to pick out, the tie around her waist hung loose. "You look familiar, are you-?"

A woman yelled what Nya presumed what the child's name, because he reacted in such a way that he was in trouble. His head spun around into a near by alley and he yelled back "wait a minute" as a reply.

Without asking for permission, his hand tugged on the fabric of the water ninja's pants. He brought his hand back to his side and looked up at her. She noticed the spark of hope still flickering in his eyes. So innocent to the world.

"Are you a ninja?"

Nya smiled and crouched down, placing a hand on his shoulder lightly. Pinching her pointer finger and thumb together, she pulled them apart, a small bubble of water created from thin air between her fingertips.

The moment of bliss from the child's face made Nya's life so much better; his eyes widened, a gasp escaping his small lips. It was as if the world opened up a whole new door of possibilities for him.

The water ninja popped her head up for a split moment to make sure no one was watching over their shoulders. Then she leaned in and, with both hands, created a majestic flow of water. The boy held his hands out inches from the liquid as if he was scared it would disappear if he touched it. Nya formed the H2O into a bubble and told him to put his hands out.

He obeyed, even as the words were still flowing out of her lips. She dropped the liquid into his soft palms. "You're..water," he mumbled with excitement. Then he did not hesitate to bring his hands to his mouth and drink up the water as it slowly dripped out of his hands. This simple action broke Nya's heart once more. And the smile he gave afterwards, make it worse. It was as if this was the first fresh water he's had in a while.

"When are you and the others gonna save the city?"

Nya looked down. She scooped in all the details of the boy: his optimism and the young hope that burned inside; the poor clothes handing onto his small frame. The fact that he drank up the water with a passion. "Soon," Nya whispered. "I hope very soon." She faced him and looked deep into his sunset colored eyes. "You can not tell anyone you saw me, okay? Please."

The boy brought a hand to his lip and zipped it shut, metaphorically throwing away the key.

"Thank you," Nya said and stood up. She rubbed her hands together over the boy's head; in response he looked up like there was a rainbow shining through the clouds. When Nya brought her hands apart and snapped, a watery mist fell down on the child. His smile was contagious.

She dropped her hands on the boy's head and ruffled his already messed up hair. He giggled because of the action. But as soon as Nya took her hand up and began to walk away, the smile faded.

"Goodbye," she added.

"Bye, ninja."

Rule number two: enjoy the little things.

She slowly made her way back to the building with Lloyd stuffed inside, thoughts of the child lighting up her path. Her hands were stuffed into her pockets and for the most part, she looked down all the way until she reached the factory. Nya let her footsteps echo so that Lloyd and the others would know someone is coming rather than just attack as soon as she knocked.

When she did knock, it took some time for the door to open. It was as if the residents inside were debating whether or not to let her in.

Although when she saw the green ninja's face again, she could not help but let the look of disgust swipe across her emotions.

Nya told herself to breath as she sidestepped into the building. A wave of cold air hit her. She needed to stay focused on the task at hand: saving Ninjago. The water ninja opened her mouth to speak, to accept an apology, to explain herself, but another voice cut her off.

"Where have you been?"

Nya's eyes flickered above Lloyd's silent figure and landed on his mother. It looked like her gray hairs were much more prominent.

"We've been worried sick about if you were okay or not," Misako added.

Nya could not help but notice Lloyd flinch as his mom spoke. It was like her words went deeper than the surface with him. "I just went out," was Nya's answer. "I couldn't stay held up in here after knowing...the truth."

PIXAL walked up behind, her eyes dimmed. "It is a pleasure to see you back safe, Nya."

Nya gave a quick nod and she walked further inside; her back was now facing the others. When she looked towards her covered toes, she noticed Dareth still sleeping without a care. She knew she could not just tell them that she jeopardized everything and visited Skylor. She could not just bluntly tell them about the boy either. "I've been thinking," she lied, spinning around and facing the others, "we can't just stop - we can't give up."

Some sort of sound came out of Lloyd's mouth.

Nya continued. "There're other people out there-" she pointed at the door "-who are surviving on next to nothing yet _they_ still believe in us."

"So you're gonna give them false hope?"

"Excuse me?"

Lloyd stepped forward. "So you're gonna let them think that we can actually defeat my father when we have close to a zero chance?"

"No, that's not-"

"That's what I'm picking up from this, though," snapped the green ninja. "Because earlier you implied that since the others were gone, we could not win this."

Nya brought her hands to her face in frustration for a second. "Well, I came to my senses. And I'm not just going to give up that quickly 'cause we lost the rest of our team."

"So what do we do?"

"First, we have to get your confidence back. Then we wait for the right moment."

Nya grinned. Rule number three: never forget those who guided you through the past.


	13. tomorrow

Nya came back.

She had a plan which was better than anything Lloyd could come up with - which is to say nothing. At least she had an _idea_ of a plan; the basics. There's is still no exact way to defeat Garmadon. That's what Lloyd believed, but he went with it.

He sat down on top of his plain sleeping bag now that most of the excitement was over with. His breath began to finally become steady but the nerves tingling in his bones had yet to die down. Everything was going to be fine because they had a plan. So, why was he still tense?

"Hey."

He turned around and faced Nya, who was also sitting on top of her cold sleeping bag. Her hair was frizzled up and out of the ponytail. It reminded him of when they first met.

"Sorry for what I said when things got heated," she continued. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm-" Lloyd cut himself off. He was going to say _fine_. But calling that a lie was such an understatement. The all precious green ninja was not fine at all. He was compilating so many options in his head, dreaming of the long gone memory of his father as a kind soul, thinking of all the funny moments floating in his mind about the ninja together as one. "I have been better," he finished off.

Nya gave a smile - Lloyd was not sure if it was fake or not - and shut her eyes for a second, inhaling. "That's makes two of us," she whispered as her eyes opened. And she left the topic on that.

"I was wondering," trailed off Lloyd, "where exactly did you run off to? The streets are crowded; didn't anyone see you?" He noticed the hesitation in her answer. He panicked for a moment before she gave a response he presumed was a lie.

"No; no one saw me," said Nya. "I just kinda went off a few blocks on building tops. Y'know, to clear my mind." She tucked her feet underneath her legs.

"Did you see-?"

"No. Neither."

There was a breath that escaped Lloyd's body he did not realize he was holding in.

"But they've taken Borg Tower as their base and it just sits there, looming over the city. Lloyd, if that gets anymore unstable and falls..."

The sentence did not need to be finished. Lloyd already knew: then hundreds of innocent souls would die all at the hands of Harumi and the almighty Lord Garmadon. Lloyd didn't even think they would care, that is, as long as he wasn't one of the souls under the rubble. He shuddered at the thought. Time for a subject change.

"So, how are we supposed to build up confidence in me?"

Nya paused for a moment as if thinking. "You need to move on," she commanded. "I know that's hard - it's hard for me too - but the first step would be acceptance. Then probably just start believing in yourself more."

Lloyd wanted to say something ugly like: _how can I believe in myself when I have nothing? No powers, lost my friends, lost my father..._ But he knew Nya was right and he had to move on and get out of the dark pit he was stuck in. "Okay, then," said the green ninja instead, dropping his head to look in his lap. "Okay, yeah, we'll get a fresh start tomorrow."

"Okay," Nya repeated. She nodded.

Someone to his left shuffled on the cold floor. He looked to the noise and saw the gray hair of his mother. She peaked her head up. "Excuse me, ninja," Misako began, "but if you wish to have a fresh start tomorrow, I suggest you both get some sleep."

Lloyd blew a raspberry. "Oh, of course, sorry," he whispered now realizing how loud the pair was talking.

Nya gave a similar apology before kicking her feet out and laying down on the sleeping bag. Lloyd watched her pull the top layer up to her chin as she started to get comfortable and as warm as possible. He followed shortly after. His head was on top of the pillow that was not fluffy at all. It felt like a t-shirt crumbled into a ball. Each of his limbs were getting tired of wearing the same bored bright green outfit. But what else could he do?

At least he was alive.

Alive and facing the dark wrath of his father and the girl he once loved. He was breathing in Ninjago but he was basically poor, wanted, _sad_. He was an outcast. The thought crossed his mind that maybe the others were better off not going through this pain. Maybe it was better-

 _No_.

Lloyd had to change. He needed a different attitude if he was going to make it past this rain of terror.

Pushing hair out of his tired eyes and flopping to his side, the green ninja curled into a ball. His head peaked up towards Nya only to notice her eyes were shut closed. Whether she was actually sleeping or just faking it, Lloyd was not sure.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow everything was going to change. Tomorrow was the day him and the three people he had left would begin the fight to see the light of day again.

He smiled and started to dream of what seemed like those long lost happy memories.

Lloyd fell asleep with hope in his heart and faith burning in his soul once more.

 **a/n: one more chapter left. it might be just a day or two late again due to unfortunate circumstances but ill live. uh...hope u enjoyed?**


	14. tea

**-skylor's pov-**

Something was different. But it was a good different.

A young child came into the restaurant today. He was dirty and seemed like walking in with she money was a once in a lifetime experience. There was a glint in his eyes that almost made me cry. He was so happy. When I asked him why he was so excited, his answer was "I can't tell you." With the look his parents gave, I did not think they knew what was up either.

Him and his parents did not have a lot of money, but they made it out of the noodle shop paying the whole meal - and gave a tip.

To be honest, that moment made my day a little better. Not sure why, but it just did, y'know? At least the kid had something worth smiling about each day.

The thought that the ninja were dead still weighed heavily on my back. I just could not dwell on it for too long. The restaurant needed me; Nya needed me.

Speaking of Nya.

I know of two things that could change her point of view. Again.

One: the _Bounty_.

I found it. Yes, I actually - literally, physically - found the ship in which supposedly my friends had died in. Since the amount of costumers are getting less and less each day, I closed the noodle shop earlier. I started to wonder around the block and came across piles off wood and metal. I began rummaging through the rubble to find a body or a photo, but came up short. I came up short on _half_ the ship. Which made me wonder where the other half went. And why instead of dead bodies, I found tea leaves.

I found hope.

It took everything in my body not to yell with joy and go break into every house just to find Nya and Lloyd. Because if the ninja were not dug under the rubble with the other half of the ship, that means they could be _alive_. We had a bigger chance of getting through this now. The question was: where are the ninja really at?

Two: my important phone calls.

The people on the other lines were not just friends of mine - they were the other elemental masters who were on Chen's Island. You might be thinking that they probably did not want to help me because I was basically an assistant in having their powers taken or maybe had better things to do. Although, they're helping Nya; they're helping Lloyd and helping save the whole city.

We needed power. And what other place to get it than some helpful masters who had an idea of what they were doing?

I did feel a ping of guilt that I was trying to replace the ninja by just filling in their place with some new people. But just as quickly as it entered my head, it shooed the idea away. Time for some positive thinking. _Confidence._

Most of them agreed, asking what time, what place. The only problem was I had no idea. Nya did not tell me where they were hiding - which is understandable - but I figured I would know if they needed help: a bunch of SOG guards would be crawling around them.

They thing is, I just did not know if Lloyd would be able to get himself together. He was like a figurehead to the people. It was almost ironic that he had no confidence in himself but the people believed so much.

So I also phoned someone to take care of that. Actually, I just walked down the block to the tea shop.

Mistaké was seated in the back room as usual. Her straw hat sat on top of her head, frizzled gray hair peaking out. Tired eyes looked up at me as the bell rang, signaling someone had entered.

"At a time of crisis, you need tea?" she asked, putting the bag down from her hand. I figured it was full of different tea flavors or something.

I shook my head slowly, looking around at the dimmed shop. Tables were scattered around, items on top laying messily. There was a whole entire wall filled with tea bags, all of the plenty jars labeled with brands. "No actually, I need a favor for someone."

Her eyebrows shot up. She made a sound deep from her throat as if she was interested. "To who do I own this favor to, my dear, Ms. Chen?"

"The green ninja," I answered without hesitation, not questioning why she knew me or if revealing that Lloyd was alive was a good thing.

"My, my, little Lloyd Garmadon?" Mistaké repeated. "He has gotten himself into a great deal of trouble, now, hasn't he?"

I gave a small smile. "You can say that," came my reply. "I mean, you've seen outside, right? His father is-"

"I know the situation all too well," she interrupted. "What can _I_ do for you?"

"Well," I started, pulling out a seat and pushing myself into it. I looked at my hand as it drew circles on the table. "I figured you would be able to help Lloyd believe in himself more or something. He has no idea what to do now that...now that the other ninja have, uh..."

"They used my tea leaves to send them away, haven't they?"

"You know where they are?" I asked, my eyes flicked up before the words even left her mouth. The words were almost a slur; I began to overthink.

Misaké turned away, not meeting my eyes. I took that as a bas sign. "I might have an idea," she spoke. "But that is for another conversation. Why do you think I would be able to help Lloyd?"

 _Because you're the crazy old tea lady who solves everything,_ was not a valuable answer. "I just..." my words began to trail off. "I thought that-"

"I might have something up my sleeve for him," she interrupted once again, finally making eye contact. "Where is he?"

"I don't know."

The sudden flinch in her eyes was there, but she quickly masked it. "How can I help him if he is in hiding?"

"Because something is gonna happen really soon and he will need your help," I answered. "Everyone will."

"Fair enough, I suppose," Misaké murmured. "Do you have a base to plan, dear?"

My hair covered my eyes for a moment as I shook my head. "Just the noddle shop."

"Good thing I do." She stood up, taking the bag in her hands and tossing it off to the side. I followed her direction and stood up as well, trailing behind her as she entered the front of the shop. Misaké's eyes had a hungry glint hidden behind the top layer. She gave a quick smirk.

"Gather together those people you called because we have a city to take back."

 **a/n: annnnnd so that is it, my friends. Actually, now that I think about it, I could probably fish out another chapter or two from skylor's POV if anyone was interested. I'll probably do that because my stories are not all the way thought through when I start writing them...oh well...so be on the look out for another update.**

 **i might be in a week. Yknow, the holidays coming up?**

 **so, if I do not update within that time frame happy thanksgiving and whatnot. Glad you enjoyed my story (I hope) and yeah...leave a review or something if u wanna.**


	15. hi faith

**-skylor's pov, two days later-**

Things were moving a lot slower than I had anticipated. I had not seen or heard anything from Nya in the past 48 hours. The sky was still a dark blue and that ugly darkness would not stop lingering above everyone. Garmadon and Harumi were still at the _throne_ of the city. I was shocked to see the princess herself traveling the streets yesterday in order to find Lloyd. Of course she left empty handed, but it was still a sight to see.

On the contrary, some of the elemental masters had arrived secretly. We had settled in quiet nicely to the facility Mistaké had. It was a very spacious building with plenty of raw material outside in case we were in need of constructing something - I'm sure Nya would have loved it. Stairs in the back led up to a small second floor, windows covering a balcony. Actually, who am I kidding; it was just a garbage disposal. It was simply our way of blending in and not drawing attention to ourself as we traveled through the city.

I had taken it upon myself to drive a truck. I did circles through the crowded streets in hopes of finding Nya or Lloyd sneaking around. It never happened. It was just an unspoken rule that we would never see them again until things went down for real - until they absolutely had to come out of shelter. Those two ninja knew very well that it was more important to be hidden than driving trucks around the city with us.

Although I did catch Dareth sneaking in and out of a building a few times. His brown outfit was eye pealing. From miles away, you could not deny who it was carried old, dirty food into an old building. Immediately, I knew that was where Nya was hiding.

And about the noodle shop? I closed it. I knew it was probably the last food source for a lot of people - even if they had little money - but I would rather live to see a city to come back to. I was not even sure if Chen's Noodle shop would be around long enough to see the light again.

Either way, time began to get boring and we eventually fell into a schedule. Wake up early and before we ate what little saved up food we've been scavenging, Griffin Turner - master of speed - would check around a few blocks for suspicious guards or weird activity. It only took a few minutes before we either sat down to talk or split up.

Later in the day, I would drive around.

After flipping up my hood and acting as natural as can be, I pulled out of the drive way and into the troubled city. It was not something you could ever get used to: seeing a city once loved and cherished, broken into nothingness.

At least, that is what I did for about four days. Because then I found trouble.

Not me personally, but Tox - master of poison - noticed all the guards. Of course we followed them without hesitation.

And what do you know? We were led to the two remaining ninja, PIXAL, Misako, and Dareth, with eyes glistening at the fact half the Bounty was missing, but crowded in a circle as the mass of SOG around them.

Together, us elemental masters scurried away safely.

To answer the question Nya asked me about how we found them, I responded with a little birdy. I was not going to tell her that I, too, was beginning to get desperate. I could not let her know that I was starting to think my plan was not good enough. I did not want her to know that I have been patrolling the streets for days and almost hopped out of my skin when Tox said something about possibly knowing their location.

A few hours later, Nya pulled me aside to talk. I could see the strange look in her eyes.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hi."

"I wanted to say thank you."

"You're welcome," I replied.

Nya looked back to Lloyd, deep in conversation with Mistaké. "Now we just gotta...find a way to stay hidden for long enough so Lloyd can get it together and the others can return."

"Yep," I said. "We gotta a city to save. But we are getting stronger.

"I have faith."


End file.
